Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams, in Finals with team, has ties to Oxon Hill
OXON HILL, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - Monty Williams played in the NBA for nine years, and now, he’s within two games of winning it all as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns.
But he said things would be very different if it weren’t for Taft Hickman, his high school coach.
"I wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for coach because of the fundamentals that he taught all of us from that inner city part of [Prince George’s] county," Williams said recently.
Back in the 80’s, Hickman coached Williams at Potomac High School in Oxon Hill. He taught him how to succeed on the court and off, and now both men say their relationship is a lot like father and son.
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"He was huge for me and my growth as a person and a player, and now, our text messages and phone conversations are the same way," Williams explained.
"We’ve been together since he was probably 14 years old," Hickman added Friday in an interview with FOX 5.
Hickman was there when Williams’ wife, Ingrid, was killed in a tragic car accident in 2016, leaving behind Williams and their five kids.
"I was in tears because I, I knew his wife Ingrid," Hickman recalled. "I had dinner with them, I was at their wedding when they got married, and I was stunned."
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Hickman has also had a front row seat for the good times, like what’s happening now. Friday, from a Holiday Inn Express about one mile from Phoenix Suns Arena where Hickman watched the second game of the series, he said he’s not surprised by the team’s success. In fact, he pointed to a Facebook post he made in December of last year, chastising ESPN for picking the Suns to finish in eighth place in the Western Conference.
"I wanted Stephen A. Smith to get back to me but he didn’t," Hickman smiled. "They have a new team in the West now. Not the Lakers, not the Clippers, not the Mavericks, not the Nuggets. They have a new team, and the name of the new team is the Suns."